Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL7103), why HMS Dauntless and HMS Lancaster are being placed alongside if there are sufficient people, spares and logistics support to run the Royal Navy.

HMS DAUNTLESS entered the engineering training ship programme in February this year. Engineer training ships, generally in a period prior to undergoing a refit or an upgrade, are used to deliver training and provide accommodation alongside.

HMS LANCASTER is presently alongside in Portsmouth and is being maintained with a minimal crew onboard until her refit. The Royal Navy has determined that HMS LANCASTER is not required as a training platform ahead of her refit, therefore a number of her crew have been redeployed in support of operational units and tasks.

Such planned programming enables the Royal Navy to optimise the use of its ships and personnel through the operational cycles.